1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to toy tops. More particularly, the present invention is related to toy tops that contain a message display that displays a readable message as the toy top is spinning.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Spinning tops have been a popular children's toy for hundreds of years. As such, the prior art record is replete with different types of toy tops. Tops have been created in most every conceivable shape, size and style.
In the many years that tops have been in existence, many tops have been designed with various secondary features that make the top more interesting to watch as the top spins. One such secondary feature is an electronic message display. Electronic message displays utilize a line of LEDs. The LEDs are placed on the moving surface of the top. As the top spins, the LEDs are sequentially lit. The result is that the LEDs are capable of displaying alpha-numeric characters that are readable to a person watching the spinning surface of the top. The technology of lighting a row of LEDs on a moving surface to produce alpha-numeric characters is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,406,300 to Tokimoto. The application of that technology to a spinning toy top is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,791,960 to Capps.
In order for an electronic display on a moving object to be readable, the lighting of the various LEDs within the display must be synchronized to the rate of movement of the surface on which the LEDs are located. If the lighting of the LEDs is not synchronized to the movement of the LEDs, the message set forth by the LEDs will appear as a blur and will not be readable.
In prior art systems, the methods used to synchronize the lighting of the LEDs are commonly done in one of two ways. In the first application, the moving surface contains some sort of internal sensor that can sense the rate of speed of the moving object containing the display. This technique is used in the cited Tokimoto patent. The second type of technique is to preprogram the lighting of the LEDs to certain speeds. As such, any message set forth by the LEDs is not readable until the speed of movement of the LEDs matches the preprogrammed speed. This second technique is disclosed in the cited Capps patent.
The present invention is an improvement over the prior art toy tops that have electronic displays. The present invention toy top contains a unique system and method of synchronizing a display on a top to its speed of rotation.